Citizen Science, with Emily Rice

Want to be a Citizen Scientist? One place to start: Zooniverse "Exoplanet Explorers." (Note: buttons in image not live, to get started, visit www.Zooniverse.org)

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About This Episode

Do you want to be a citizen scientist? StarTalk All-Stars host Emily Rice, comic co-host Chuck Nice, Dr. Karen Masters, Professor at the University of Portsmouth and Project Scientist for Galaxy Zoo, and Jackie Faherty, Senior Scientist at the American Museum of Natural History, are here to help you get involved and make a tangible difference in the scientific community. First, you’ll learn what being a citizen scientist is all about: what it is, why it’s important, and how it’s been democratized over the past years to include anyone and everyone. You’ll hear about Karen’s citizen science project Galaxy Zoo, a project where citizen scientists help classify numerous pictures of galaxies across the universe. You’ll also learn why astronomy is one of the few areas of science left in which amateurs are able to make major contributions. Karen discusses Zooniverse, the citizen science platform that hosts Galaxy Zoo, and many of their other popular projects like Snapshot Serengeti and Penguin Watch. You’ll also hear how you can create your own project. Jackie stops by later on to tell us about her own Zooniverse project Backyard Worlds, where she enlists citizen scientists to scan the solar neighborhood in search of Planet 9 and unknown objects close to the sun. All that plus, Cosmic Queries on a variety of topics including light pollution, microgravity cooking, amateur astronomy, and more!